Federal Information Technology Careers

Information technology workers are in high demand at nearly every federal agency. Often times these professionals are required to specialize in IT sectors such as security, data management, or system assurance. Many federal IT professionals are also required to possess a security clearance.

Entry-level federal IT professionals usually start at the GS-5 level and possess either three years of private/private sector experience or a bachelor’s degree in a related field. These professionals often earn $33,000 per year.

Mid-level IT workers usually start at GS-7 grade, earning around $40,000 annually. These positions usually require applicants to have at least one-year of experience in a designated specialty.

Upper-level professionals start at the GS-9 level and must possess the specialization experience required for GS-7 positions as well as extensive experience with Java, Visual Basic, C ASP, SQL, XML, Apache, IIS, Windows, Unix, and Linux and familiarity with W3C and Federal standards. These professionals usually earn $50,000 per year.

More than any other sector, most IT growth is spread evenly throughout the federal government. Consequently, the departments and agencies where demand for IT professionals is the greatest are also those that are seeing some of the highest rates of overall growth, such as the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense. The agencies currently recruiting the most IT professionals are the Veterans Health Administration,National Institutes of Health, and the Air Force Personnel Service.